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COMPETE in the HIGH TIMES CANNABIS CUP COMPETITION!

Starting in Amsterdam in 1988, HIGH TIMES has been the premier host of cannabis competitions worldwide. Today, we hold Cannabis Cups in over a dozen major cities around the U.S., Europe, Caribbean and Canada. To honor both the history of the HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup—and the participants who support our events and the movement as a whole—HIGH TIMES has decided to bring back the original, artisan-created Cup trophies that have been at the center of our competition for nearly 30 years.

Beginning in 2017, we are honored to have the esteemed artist and cannabis crusader Alex Grey as our partner in creating artisanal Cannabis Cups for the winners of the most prestigious cannabis awards on Earth. A big welcome goes out to the Alex Grey family - as it does to all of you whom we hope to see at one of our many Cannabis Cup competitions in 2017.

About The Cup Design From Alex Grey & Allyson Grey:

To honor the science and spirit of ganja, Alex Grey's sculptural grail created exclusively for HIGH TIMES, embeds chemical, botanical, historical and archetypal symbolism praising cannabis. At the base of the cup are diagrams of medicinal cannabinoid molecules. An inscription on the base reads: “Hail, Cannabis, ancient sacramental healing ally of Humanity.”

Molecular forms emerge on the base and begin to rise up the shaft in a helical DNA strand evoking centuries of genetic cultivation. The helix transforms into an occult symbol of the caduceus, a snake entwined staff of the Greek messenger God Hermes.

Twin double-headed serpents have wings sprouting from all of their crowns that cradle a flaming eye of higher vision. The Serpents of Wisdom represent psychic forces of sensuality, peace and philosophical openness offered through cannabis. Symbols of flaming eyes and wings point to flights of Divine Imagination that arise during stoned reverie.

The Chinese & Sanskrit script refers to hemp and Bhang, acknowledging the Eastern Civilizations that first planted cannabis at the dawn of agriculture over ten thousand years ago. The Western Civilizations of Greece and America are honored for their worldwide proliferation of the earth’s most beloved and most misunderstood sacred plant. By dating the cultural spread of ganja, we gain knowledge of the cannabis tribe's sacramental history.

The cup is engraved with outlines of sativa and indica leaves.

Circling the upper rim of the cup is the Secret Writing of artist, Allyson Grey, a symbol system representing the unpronounceable language of creative expression. The chalice is a container that symbolizes femininity and the womb. Honoring the Divine Feminine, the chalice reminds us that female plants are the most potent and prized cannabis specimens.

The HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup will be awarded to those who push the evolutionary edge of farming the friendly miracle of marijuana. By drinking from ganja's holy grail, people awaken their soul and empower their energetic flow toward creative engagement with life. May the entire world be healed and uplifted by cannabis.

God bless HIGH TIMES, the only periodical that has protected and promoted cannabis culture for decades to celebrate health, music, art and to overcome the pointless War on Drugs.

The Cannabis Cup was digitally modeled by the talented architect and sculptor Taha Alkan, with skillful adherence to Alex Grey's drawings.